THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM - 23 JANUARY 1968 - 1968/01/23

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06753732
• Document Creation Date: July 27, 2018

3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2018/07/26 C06753732
�
-I MEMORANDUM
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
The Situation in Vietnam 4'
ARCHIVAL RECORD
PLEASE RETURN TO
AGENCY ARCHIVES,
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1 2 3
23 January 1968
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Information as of 1600
23 January 1968
HIGHLIGHTS
Communist forces are maneuvering around Khe Sanh
although there was little military action in the area
during the past 24 hours./
I. The Military Situation in South Vietnam:
In the Khe Sanh area, two more American jet aircraft
were shot down on 22 and 23 JanUa-ry, action elsewhere
was relatively, light (Paras. 1-2). A North Viet- -
namese prisoner has provided information on the mis-
sion of the 325C Division (Paras. 3-9). Communist
forces are preparing for increasEd military action
in the Quang Tin - Quang Nam province area (Paras.
10-14).
III. Military Developments in North Vietnam:
There is nothing of significance to report.
V. Communist Political Developments: The Libera-
tion Front held a central committee conference on 15-17
January (Paras. 1-3).
ANNEX: The Situation in Binh Dinh Province
Steady progress has been made in expanding military
security and pacification since 1965. Consolidation and
expansion of the gains in the province remain somewhat
tenuous, however.
TOP CRET
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SOUTH..
VIETNAM 3.5(c)
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TOP,SEtRET
-I. .THE MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. Two more American jet planes on close sup-
port missions near Khe Sanh were �shot down on 22 and
23 January, bringing to eight the number of aircraft
lost in the area during the past week. The type
of enemy fire responsible for these losses is not
known, but the Communists evidently have made
significant improvements in their antiaircraft
capability in the area.
2. There have been no new reports of ground
fighting in the Khe Sanh area, but sporadic enemy
shelling continues in the mountains north of the
base and at Con Thien in eastern Quang Tri Province.
The heaviest action reported on 22 January was
southeast of Quang Tri city where newly arrived
US Army units reported killing 52 Communists. Two
battalions of the US 1st Air Cavalry Division
have been moved up to this area from Binh Dinh
Province, releasing another US Marine battalion
for deployment farther north.
North Vietnamese 325th Division
3. A North Vietnamese Army deserter who
turned himself in at the Khe Sanh Airfield on 20
January states that his unit, the 325C Division,
has been ordered to overrun every US base between
the Laotian border and Con Thien before Tet (30
January).
4. The deserter indicated that he and other
North Vietnamese, troops had been told that they
would go on to "liberate" Quang Tri Province,
thereby winning a powerful negotiating position
for the Communists. The Quang Tri campaign was
so important, he said, that it was being con-
trolled directly by the North Vietnamese Defense
Ministry in Hanoi.
23 January 1968
I-1
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TOS